


Be Careful, Stay Alive

by quantumoddity



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Demonic Possession, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 13:23:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9735269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumoddity/pseuds/quantumoddity
Summary: That was how they always began. No matter what Alex and Eliza were facing down, no matter what nightmares were waiting for them in the shadows, these gentle words were how they started each job. His forehead resting against hers, her hand holding the back of his head, a moment of quiet and unity before they dived in. It was their ritual, their little promise to each other.Alex and Eliza have been hunting together for years, they've faced so much danger and somehow always come out of the other side. But maybe this is the one thing that could break them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A Hamilton AU based on the television show, Supernatural (or at least the first two seasons cos thats all I've watched) 
> 
> Comments/kudos would be so amazing of you!

“Be careful,” Alex murmured.

“You too,” Eliza answered firmly.

“Stay alive.”

“You too.”

“I love you.”

“I love _you._ ”

 

That was how they always began. No matter what Alex and Eliza were facing down, no matter what nightmares were waiting for them in the shadows, these gentle words were how they started each job. His forehead resting against hers, her hand holding the back of his head, a moment of quiet and unity before they dived in. It was their ritual, their little promise to each other.

Not that Alex didn’t trust his girlfriend, his Eliza. After so many years hunting together he had countless proof of how smart and strong and fast she was. She’d pulled them out of so much trouble on so many jobs, saving Alex’s own skin more times than he deserved. But that didn’t stop him worrying about her so much that he felt his heartbeat in his throat as he watched her snap the safety off her trusted handgun and head out first, towards the front door of the abandoned factory.

Alex had never feared death when he was alone, he’d run into everything headlong and if it was the end of him then so be it. At least he’d go down swinging, at least his death might mean something even if his life never did.

But Eliza? The thought of losing her terrified him more than he would ever have words for.

So, that was why he needed the promise. He needed to hear her low warm voice tell him with certainty that no matter what came for them, even as they kept living on a knife edge, death living on their doorstep, he’d still have his Eliza. She’d come home to him.

Just as Eliza needed the quiet confirmation that he’d think of himself too, even just a little, that Alex would remember someone was waiting for him to come home too.

It was how they always began.

But what happened afterwards they could never predict.

 

The darkness in the building, even with the sickly moonlight filtering in and turned yellow by the filthy and cracked windows, it was oppressive. Alex knew he should be quiet, he should be beyond cautious, he and Eliza had traced a dozen missing person’s cases in the last six months to this town, to this abandoned canning factory quietly crumbling to dust on the outskirts of it. People just disappearing off the face of the planet, into nothingness. They’d flipped through the leather-bound journal with Alex’s mother’s name still scrawled on the cover again and again and both come to the same conclusion, that had made their blood go cold simultaneously.

They were dealing with a demon. And a powerful one at that.

So, when a high school student had been the next to go missing, a young thing only seventeen years old, Eliza’s conscience hadn’t been able to take it anymore (not when the girl looked a little like her own sister Peggy). But they’d both agreed that this was a step up from what they were used to, this was a job where they needed to be careful.

But all thoughts of caution had fled Alex’s mind, he was racing through the empty hallways, his eyes wild and his heart pounding, his nerves alight and burning.

 

Because Eliza was gone.

She’d been right behind him. Eliza was always right behind him, she’d promised, just like always.

But there’d been a noise, a rush of air and a small gasp and when Alex had whirled around, the hallway was empty. And the world had fallen away from under his feet.

Now he was crashing through the place, his footsteps bouncing off the walls as he desperately searched for Eliza, calling her name, begging her to answer him, not caring who or what heard him if Eliza did.

He collapsed against the railings overlooking what had once been the factory floor, now a shell, an empty hollow. The shadows that ran up the walls became shapes, terrifying nightmares of what could be happing to her, to his Eliza-

“Eliza!” Alex yelled, his voice close to breaking, “Eliza, where are y- “

“Alex?”

He froze, wondering if that had been real or if it had just been him hearing what he wanted to hear. But there it was again, her voice, sounding calm and normal.

“Alex! We’re in here, I found her!”

He was off like a shot, following the sound through into one of the stairwells, crashing through the door and taking the steps two at a time.

 

And there she was, on one of the landings, a tight space. The girl was lying on the grimy concrete floor, face down, looking rumpled and weak but unharmed as far as Alex could see. And Eliza was bent over her, protectively, two fingers pressed to her neck as she checked for a pulse. Alex could have collapsed with relief at the sight of her.

“She’s okay,” Eliza didn’t look up at him, she was too intent on checking over the girl, “Doesn’t seem hurt.”

“A-and the demon?” Alex panted, catching his breath, “What happened to you, Eliza, where did you go? Are you okay, are you hurt?”

Eliza flashes her eyes up to him quickly, “Yeah I’m fine. It had her but it just let go. I guess it moved on when it saw we were here to take care of it.”

Alex came and knelt by her, his hand on Eliza’s shoulder just to reassure himself that it was all okay, she was really here and she was really safe. She didn’t lean into him, she busied herself checking the girl’s skin for burn marks.

Alex saw how the girl looked pale up close, worryingly so. In fact, there was a worrying mark around her neck, like a bruise, “We should take her to the hospital.”

Eliza didn’t sound too worried, “She’s fine. She’s breathing. We can just call 911 and get out of here, the demon could come back after all.”

There was a long pause, a long and slow heartbeat. Alex’s hand dropped from Eliza’s shoulder. Wait…

“And just…leave her here? When she needs help? Eliza…” his voice was quiet and it shook. He frowned at his girlfriend, a thought taking root at the base of his skull that he desperately hoped was wrong.

“Eliza?”

_Please no. Please God, no…_

She sighed as if in frustration, combing her hair behind one ear and languidly rising to her feet, “Well shit…I’d hoped to keep this up a little longer at least but she’s such a goody two shoes isn’t she, this one…Couldn’t keep up…”

Eliza’s voice was now hard and cool, slick, oily almost.

And when she turned to gaze collectedly down at Alex, who was trembling slightly, frozen in place, silently begging that none of this was true…

Her warm brown eyes were solid black. Unflinching. Pitted.

This wasn’t Eliza.

“I guess we get right to the fun and games then,” it smirked.

“No!” Alex yelled, skittering backwards as one of his many nightmares come to life in front of him, desperation hot and sickening running through his veins, “No, no, get the fuck out of her! Leave her alone!”

The demon wearing Eliza, using her like a puppet, grinned sardonically, “And she thinks you’re good with words…You’re a disappointment, Alexander Hamilton.”

 

_Surrounded by shadow, unable to move her limbs or turn her head, held somewhere she couldn’t see, bound by something she couldn’t feel. Eliza would only thrash and kick against the unyielding nothingness as she saw the fear in her Alex’s eyes, the disbelief and shock and horror. And he was looking at her…She screamed at him to run._

Alex sprang to his feet, fire flooding through his body, darkness in his expression. In the small confined space, he made himself step forward towards this thing, this facsimile of the woman he loved that was gazing at him with such horribly languid confidence, challenging him.

“You sick son of a bitch, give her back right now or I will make you fucking regret the day you crawled out of hell,” Alex spat, venom filling his voice.

The demon raised Eliza’s eyebrow, seemingly completely unfazed by his fury, “Wow. Well, that’s not the Alexander Hamilton that’s in this brain. Wow. Well you’ve been keeping things from your poor girl, haven’t you?”

That knocked Alex right in the chest, his anger slipping into desperation for a moment before his face twisted in fury again.

He knew there were parts of himself he kept from Eliza, a darkness and shadow in him that he tried so hard not to let her see, what years of fighting alone had grew in him. But that was what was working him now, taking him over while the part of Alex was usually in charge cringed and sobbed in terror.

He just couldn’t stop it.

“You know something, Alexander,” the demon leaned in, closing the distance between them and moving closer to his ear, smirking as he flinched away, “You’re actually scaring her, I can feel it, she’s never seen this side of you before. Careful, boy. She’s _terrified_ of you.”

Alex tried not to show fear, he really tried. But those words hurt as if the monster had sunk claws into him, he winced.

 

_Eliza screamed, rattling against what was holding her, sobbing that no, no it wasn’t true, she loved him, she wasn’t afraid. But, God, she was afraid. She was._

“I will destroy you,” Alex vowed, tears building in his eyes despite himself. He was hanging onto his control by a thread, “I will burn you, I will hurt you, I will fucking _destroy you.”_

The demon gave a low laugh, so much like Eliza’s warm, loving chuckle that for so many years had lit up Alex’s life, the tears ran down his cheeks and his expression tightened.

“And how are you going to do that, _pretty boy?_ ” the demon bared Eliza’s teeth, watching and brightening as Alex flinched. Her voice grew teasing, mocking, playful, “That’s what she calls you in bed, isn’t it? Oh there’s all that and more up in this pretty little head. Quite the bend over boyfriend aren’t you, Alexander, for such a big, tough hunter. I tell you, she looks so sweet and innocent, our Eliza, but you’ve done a wonderful job of corrupting her…”

“ _Fuck off_ ,” Alex snarled, his voice tightening but he backed up. His hands flew to the gun at his belt, the knife at his hip, any of it. But the thought of pointing it at Eliza, his Eliza…but he couldn’t listen to this anymore. Now his back was against the wall.

The demon gave a small gasp, Eliza’s hand flying to her throat. “You wouldn’t…you wouldn’t point a gun at your Betsey, would you? Hold a knife to her throat, right where you were kissing just last night? Alexander…” Eliza’s expression crumpled, the demon’s influence hidden for a moment and all there was left was just her, looking scared and hurt.

His face twisted, “Stop it. _Stop it.”_

There was that laugh again, his Eliza’s laugh but also not, the one that made him want to vomit.

“You can’t hurt me, can you, pretty boy? Not without hurting your sweet Betsey, the ‘only person to ever make you feel safe since you were a kid’, that’s what you told her,” the demon mocked him with his own words, the words it had taken so much bravery to give to her.

But it was right. For all his words and his dark anger, Alex couldn’t bring himself to put a hand on his girlfriend. He just couldn’t.

The demon’s dark eyes seemed to pull in the light as it twisted Eliza’s face into a smile and growled, “But I can hurt you…”

The next thing Alex knew, he was moving, like an invisible force had struck him hard. He was thrown back against the concrete wall of the stairwell, with the hard rush off all the air leaving him and the familiar sharp sting of a rib breaking. Pain rushed through him and he couldn’t hold back the cry of shock. He was allowed to feel the agony for a heartbeat and then the world tipped and he was thrown bodily down the stairs. Dull, heavy strikes to his shoulder, his back, his chest, over and over until he slumped on the ground in a heap.

There was blood in his eyes and his mouth, a throbbing through his limbs, a ringing in his ears and through it all, what hurt the most, that laughter…

 

_Eliza sobbed without sound, without tears, feeling every strike Alex took like it was happening to her own body. Her hands had done it; she’d hurt him and she was laughing…_

Alex slowly tried to right himself but there was no strength in him, his arms gave way underneath him with white hot flare. Something must be broken in them. So, he could only lie there and watch as the demon casually loped down the stairs towards him, giggling delightedly.

“I can hear her crying, you know,” it laughed, like it was making polite conversation, “She’s sobbing, she’s screaming your name but no one can hear but me. It’s hilarious.”

Alex grunted and finally staggered to his feet, that excruciating image propelling him upwards, “Eliza…”

He stumbled backwards, through the doors at the bottom of the stairs, into what must have been a meeting room decades ago. Alex couldn’t support his weight anymore, crumpling in on himself against the back wall, spattering droplets of blood in his wake.

 

_Just a little further, just a little further, that’s all Eliza can think, desperately like a frantic prayer. Just. A little. Further._

Alex was done.

“You can have me, okay?” his voice was small, begging, “Just leave her and take my body instead, I’ve caused so much more trouble for your kind than she has. If you promise you’ll leave her and let her go free…you can possess me.”

Both the demon and Eliza froze, one in delight, one in horror. The grin that spread across her gentle, familiar face was so wide and cracked, it was wrong, like a fissure in her face, like a wound, “Oh. Oh, how touching, I could cry…though of course it’s the irony that’s the really delicious part…how you’d sacrifice yourself, pretty boy, for a girl that doesn’t even love you back…”

Alex jerked and gave a moan of pain that had nothing to do with his broken bones, his black eye, his split lip.

“She l-loves me,” he nearly sobbed, hiding his head in his hands, “I know Eliza loves m-me, shut the f-fuck up.”

The demon gave a callous snort, leaning in the doorway and regarding him with a disdainful expression, “She really had you convinced, huh? Oh, pretty boy, of course she never loved you, not really. How could someone like her fall for a messed-up freak like you? She felt _sorry_ for you when she picked you up out of the gutter all those years ago, she thought you’d be good for a quick fuck, that was it. Your dearest Betsey’s just been trying to figure out a way to get rid of you all these years.”

“No…no, no, no…” Alex was a broken man, trying to block out those words, in that voice but still they permeated like some foul, acidic poison.

The demon grinned in satisfaction, “Of course, I think you always knew that, deep down. You know how worthless you are, Alexander, but you saw what you wanted to see. And who can blame you….”

 

_It’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, don’t listen to it, Alex, no. I love you, I love you, I love you I love you I love…_

Alex nearly snarled, his pain and anger and grief flaring, “Just take me, please. Let Eliza go.”

The demon forced Eliza’s face into a shocked expression, “Goodness. After all that you still want to give up your freedom for hers? Then you’re an even bigger idiot than Eliza ever imagined. But no…no, I don’t think I will. I fear I’ve broken you, pretty boy. No, instead I’ll just kill you, nice and slow and painful. Then your dearest Betsey and I are going to have some fun.”

As if to emphasise exactly what it meant, Eliza’s hands ran down her curves as a twisted smile alighted on her heart shaped face.

Alex tried to find it in him to care that death was staring right in the face. But all he could do was curl up in a tight ball and weep, all he could think was that he’d failed. He’d failed to protect his Eliza, after he’d promised.

He’d failed.

“Well…” the demon sounded vaguely disappointed, “Guess you are broken. So much for the infamous Hamilton family. Ah well, let’s put these pretty hands to good use then…”

A step forward, another. And then something in the air changed.

 

Eliza’s expression flickered through several states, confusion, a flash of fear, anger, shock. And then resignation.

“Well fuck…”

Alex looked through his fingers, realising that his own laboured breathing was the only sound in the room. From where he was sat, hunched on the floor, the first thing Alex saw was the thing the demon had missed, in its eagerness to torture him. The thing Alex himself that missed first time around, he’d never even thought…

A devil’s trap.

One of Eliza’s.

She must have been drawing them throughout the factory as she moved through it after being separated. She must have known.

Even when she was trapped within her own body, still she saved his sorry ass. She dragged him back from the edge.

 

“You stupid motherfucker,” Alex snarled, his voice thick and low and dangerous.

The demon tried to hide its bewilderment but now it’s grip was slipping, now Eliza was fighting back in earnest, it was hard. Her face became a shifting map, a struggle for control.  

Alex got to his feet, his eyes flashing, throwing all his pain and fury into his voice, “You’re done. Go crawl back into that pit where you belong.”

He kept his eyes down so he wasn’t looking into Eliza’s face, he knew who he was talking to.

“I’ll be back,” her voice sounded harsh and rasping, a deep echo to it now, “You can’t keep me there forever and the first thing I do when I get out is tear Eliza Schuyler limb from limb while you watch.”

Alex laughed, he actually found it in him to laugh, though it was a harsh and broken sound.

“You can fucking try,” he chuckled, “And I’ll be waiting right here and I will fucking burn you off every plane of existence, I swear you will regret the day you came after my family. Bye now.”

 

The incantation came out as nearly a roar, a weapon in and of itself. There was black smoke running from Eliza’s mouth, her head snapped back, her eyes wide. A rushing sound, shadows swam at the edges of Alex’s vision and he felt his knees buckle, the pain and exhaustion overtaking him.

And then the next thing he knew, a small, scared voice.

“Alex?” Eliza hovered over him, wanting to touch him, wanting to run away and hide, wanting to scream, wanting to cry. And not having any idea at all what to do.

“Alex, please be okay. Please.”

The break in her voice, that could only be his Eliza. Alex lifted his head, looking through his swollen, bloodied eyes at her face. Her expression made him wince.

“I’m okay,” he wheezed, “I’m okay, I promise. And you…”

“It’s me,” Eliza nearly sobs, “It’s me, Alex, it’s gone. It’s gone, I’m me.”

Both of them knew what they should be doing, what should be happening. Eliza falling to her knees and wrapping Alex in her arms, both of them sobbing in relief, rocking each other until this whole horrible thing was forgotten and behind them.

That didn’t happen. Alex stood, shaking, dripping blood to the ground. Eliza hugged her arms around herself, feeling so…used. So violated, like she couldn’t tell if these limbs were even hers. And neither of them moved.

“The girl,” Eliza eventually whispered, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve, the tears she hadn’t been able to cry coming now, “She needs to go to the hospital. And so do you, Alex, we need to get you fixed up.”

Even through his pain and all the confusion, the thick fog that had suddenly grown between them, Alex could give a small smile.

Definitely his Eliza.

 

Eliza drove the way back into town while Alex hunched in the passenger seat, wincing and moaning softly at every sharp turn and bump in the road. The girl was still unconscious but she was going to be okay, Eliza thought, she was just exhausted.

Alex was in no shape to help the girl into the building when they arrived, it fell to Eliza. But when she came back to the car, to help her boyfriend, to get the many, many injuries he’d gotten ( _that she’d given him_ ) seen to.

But Alex only caught her hand, winding his fingers through hers. She shivered a little at the first contact since she’d been forced to say and do those awful things but she grasped at it gratefully.  

“Eliza, I…can we just go home? Can you just stitch me up?” Alex’s voice was a low plead.

Trust. He still trusted her.

Eliza nodded furiously, “Of course. I can take care of you.”

The familiar touch was what they needed right now, it made them think that maybe this was something they could get through.

Maybe.

 

This was familiar too, Alex lying on the couch in their small, cluttered apartment, moaning softly as Eliza stitched and cleaned and soothed the aches and pains from his body. They’d done this so many times before, more times than either of them would like.

Though of course something was different this time.

“Almost done…” Eliza murmured, holding his hand tightly while tying off the bandage with the other, “And there you go. Well done.”

Alex gave a soft sigh, relaxing a little, mumbling vague thanks as his eyes slid shut. Eliza watched his face carefully for a few moments, watched his chest rise and fall painfully. She sighed and went to wash the utensils and get the blood off her hands…

She stopped dead, halfway to the kitchen.

Alex’s blood. On her hands.

Eliza felt herself falling, felt the shadows creeping back around her and that awful invisible force locking around her limbs-

“Betsey?” Alex’s voice was a whisper but it reached her, even through the tightening panic.

That name meant a lot to the both of them. It was the name Alex whispered tenderly into her hair as they lay in a tangled heap after they were done making love, it was the one he sighed as she hugged him after one of his many panic attacks. It was his name for her, their reminder that no matter what happened to them, their love was real and they had that much.

And right now it gave her the strength to turn and face him.

Tears spilt over her warm brown eyes, running down her cheeks as the words broke forth, “Alex, you know none of that was true, everything it said was a lie! I love you so much, you mean everything to me, you’re my world, Alex, I h-hate that I hurt y-you, I’m so s-sorry, so sorry…”

Suddenly she was on her knees beside the couch and Alex’s arms were around her and they were rocking gently, his voice gentle in her ear. Within seconds, he was crying too.

“It wasn’t you, my Eliza, my Betsey, it was that thing. You didn’t mean…I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect you better…”

They sobbed for a long, long time, until it was all gone and there was nothing but the warmth and safety of each other’s arms. Though this wouldn’t be the end of it. This was no easy fix, Eliza could see weeks and months, maybe years of nightmares and fear, they certainly wouldn’t be hunting for a little while. There’d be sobbing and sleepless nights and pain before all this was over.

But through it all, Alex would be right there. That much she knew.

 

When the sobs had eventually given way to silent tears and aching eyes, Alex slowly moved so his forehead was resting against Eliza’s, a tender gesture.

His voice cracked and splintered but Eliza understood him perfectly in so many ways, the way she always understood Alexander. And she answered him back with as much strength as she could muster.

 

“Be careful,” Alex groaned, so much love in his eyes.

“You too,” Eliza murmured, clinging to him.

“Stay alive.”

“You too.”

“I love you, Betsey.”

“I love _you._ ”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr, quantum-oddity! And my good friend minky-for-short has been posting some amazing art for this AU


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